1

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

WHY ACCESS TO JUSTICE? ......................................................................................................................................... 2

Link to The Sustainable Development Goals ............................................................................................................................................................. 3

Links to Inclusive Growth ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS TO ACCESSING JUSTICE? ......................................................................... 7

HOW CAN PEOPLE-FOCUSED ACCESS TO JUSTICE BE IMPLEMENTED? ............................. 9

Understanding and Measuring Legal Needs .............................................................................................................................................................. 9

Understanding Justice Pathways ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 11

Examples of People-focused innovations in Access to justice .............................................................................................................. 12

TYPES OF LEGAL EMPOWERMENT INTERVENTIONS ........................................................................ 13

Impact of selected legal empowerment initiatives .......................................................................................................................................... 14

KEY QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION ...................................................................................................... 19

BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................................................. 20

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W H Y A C C E S S T O J U S T I C E? Access to justice is integral to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

and inclusive growth. An estimated four billion people around the world live outside

the protection of the law, mostly because they are poor or marginalized within their

societies. They can be easily cheated by employers, driven from their land, preyed upon

by the powerful and intimidated by

violence. The lack of legal accountability

allows local corruption to undermine

economies, diverting resources from

where they are needed the most. Lengthy

delays in processing legal cases inhibit

individual economic activity, while the

inability to enforce contracts deters people from entering into them. Overcrowded

prisons are full of poor people waiting months or even years for a first trial, forced to

give up work opportunities and unable to support their families. Women, who often

face multiple forms of discrimination, violence and sexual harassment, are particularly

affected by legal exclusion. Addressing these legal challenges will be essential to

enable the basic protection of human rights, from protection of property to legal

identity and freedom from violence.

4 billion people around the world live outside the protection of the law, mostly because they are poor or

marginalized within their societies.

3Legal empowerment—the ability of people to understand and use the law for

themselves—enables even those who are most marginalized to achieve justice, meet

their basic needs, hold authorities to account, protect their interests and participate in

economic activities in an inclusive manner.

LI N K T O TH E SU S T A I N A B L E DE V E L O P M E N T GO A L S In September 2015, member states of the

United Nations made an important

breakthrough by agreeing on a Sustainable

Development Goal (SDG) 16.3: “Promote the rule

of law at the national and international levels and

ensure equal access to justice for all”, which

recognizes the intrinsic links between access to

justice, poverty reduction and inclusive growth.

The SDGs provide a unique opportunity to reflect

on how national governments can ensure that

economic growth, development, and poverty

reduction strategies integrate equal access to

justice and legal empowerment initiatives, as

integral elements necessary to achieve these

objectives.

Access to justice, as well as being a central element of SDG 16, is crucial to

implementing many of the other SDGs, such as eradicating poverty and hunger (SDG

1 and SDG 2). It gives farmers and other agrarian communities the tools they need to

improve their tenure security, which has been shown to lead to more productive

investment. Similarly, the ability to access and enforce regulatory frameworks helps to

determine whether contracts and labor and environmental standards — critical for fair

development outcomes — are respected in practice. In the Philippines, for example,

survey results by the Asian Development

Bank showed that in communities with

legal support, regulatory reforms resulted

in residents with higher levels of

productivity, higher income, more

disposable income, and more investment

in their farms.

Women, who often face

multiple forms of discrimination, violence and sexual harassment, are particularly

affected by legal exclusion.

Source : UN

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Access to justice and legal empowerment help translate legal guarantees of gender

equality into real improvements in the daily lives of women (SDG 5) by supporting

women in protecting themselves from domestic violence, sharing in benefits from

natural resources, retaining control over loans taken out in their name, and accessing

inheritance or property upon divorce. In Bangladesh, providing access to justice for

women reduced the illegal practice of dowry payment and increased women’s cash

savings for emergencies, compared to other communities without legal help,

according to the Asian Development Bank.

Source : Adapted from UN

5Justice and governance can also help preserve the environment (SDG 14 and SDG 15).

A global study in 2009 of 80 forest areas found a correlation between local rule-making

about forest management and high carbon storage and other livelihood benefits, such

as increased firewood, fodder, fertilizer, and timber available to meet basic subsistence

needs of local users. According to the survey, when local users are insecure in their

rights, they consume more forest products; but when their tenure rights are secure,

they conserve biomass and use their forest commons in a more sustainable manner.

Access to legal help can help communities to secure rights over common land, giving

them more control over their livelihoods and greater incentives to preserve their

environment. A number of OECD countries — for example, the United Kingdom,

Australia, and New

Zealand — seek to

increase access to justice

by clustering

administrative tribunals

on related subjects

matters (e.g.

environmental and land

use planning); in

providing “one window

access”, they increase

efficiencies as well as

improve environmental

outcomes.

LI N K S T O IN C L U S I V E GR O W T H The law underlies nearly every aspect of people’s lives, including health, employment,

education, housing, and entrepreneurship. In many countries, unequal access to and

discrimination in these sectors create real barriers to economic participation, especially

for traditionally marginalized populations (youth, the elderly, women, migrants).

However, these sectors depend upon legal frameworks for their operations and

legitimacy. Providing people access to justice enables them to tackle these

inequalities, and to participate in legal processes that promote inclusive growth.

Source : Civil Service India (n.d.)

6The inability to access legal and justice services can be both a result and a cause of

poverty. People who are more

vulnerable to social exclusion

typically report more justice

problems than other groups.

Furthermore, as legal problems tend

to trigger and cluster with other

legal and non-legal problems, these

same groups appear to experience

an increased rate of non-legal

challenges as well. Data show that

legal problems spark other

problems, thus contributing to a

cycle of decline which inhibits

economic productivity.

Source : Adapted from Tyler T. et al. (2011)

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W H A T A R E T H E B A R R I E R S T O A C C E S S I N G J U S T I C E ?

Many economic, structural, and institutional factors hinder access to justice, including

the complexity and cost of legal processes, time, and geographical and physical

constraints. Importantly, many people — especially those in vulnerable and

marginalized groups — neither recognize their problems as legal ones, nor identify the

potential legal remedies for those problems. Cost, including opportunity cost, and trust

in the justice system are also important factors in determining whether or not people

seek legal assistance, or take action at all, to resolve their legal problems.

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Source : Adapted from Community Advocacy & Legal Centre

(2016)

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H O W C A N P E O P L E -F O C U S E D A C C E S S T O J U S T I C E B E I M P L E M E N T E D ? UN D E R S T A N D I N G A N D ME A S U R I N G LE G A L NE E D S To design appropriate solutions to local justice problems, governments must start with

an effective understanding of its population’s legal needs and experiences in accessing

justice. Understanding these legal needs requires a focus on outcomes – i.e., the ability

of people to address their legal needs in a fair, cost efficient, timely and effective

manner. Today, more than 37 countries rely on national legal needs surveys to

determine baseline data for understanding their people’s legal problems. By 2017, the

World Justice Project will conduct legal needs surveys in more than 100 countries. The

data gathered through this type of approach will be invaluable in mapping the gaps

in delivering justice so that governments can plan and implement national

development strategies that meet national needs.

10As the majority of injustices faced by people today involve civil rather than criminal

matters, national measurements of justice must go beyond criminal justice. In

Colombia, a 2013 survey established that approximately 40% of the population had

had a legal issue in the preceding four years, with fraud, theft, access to public services,

and housing the most common problems. In the United States, an ABA study of low-

and moderate-income households revealed that nearly half of all households had had

at least one legal need in the preceding 12 months, with the most common issues

personal finance, consumer issues, and

housing and property. Legal needs surveys

also demonstrate how people typically

seek to solve their justice problems

without relying on formal justice systems.

In Ukraine, a 2010 survey found that

respondents with a legal problem most commonly first pursued direct negotiation

with the other party, and then sought resolution with government authorities. Only

nine percent actively sought a remedy in court. As such, effective measurement of

progress on SDG 16.3 must look at people’s experiences of resolving a justice dispute,

rather than administrative data on cases processed.

By 2017, the World Justice

Project will conduct legal needs surveys

in more than 100 countries.

Source : Adapted from Community Advocacy & Legal Centre (2016)

11UN D E R S T A N D I N G JU S T I C E PA T H W A Y S Although courts in formal justice systems are critical for access to justice and the rule

of law, relatively few legal problems are resolved through the court system or even

through formal alternative dispute resolution processes. When faced with legal

problems, people will often turn to non-court based processes, and even non-legal

services. Income, distance, personal capability and the manner in which services are

made available are key factors that influence people's use of legal and other services.

In the area of criminal justice, some countries with few qualified lawyers have placed

paralegals in communities to educate rural populations about their rights when a

family or community member has been arrested and imprisoned. Paralegals offer free

basic legal advice to vulnerable

groups and help the latter navigate

the complexities of the criminal

justice system. Without the

intervention of paralegals, people

would stand a much higher risk of

being wrongfully imprisoned, often

for extended periods of time, or exposed to ill-treatment by police or to corruption

before their case is re solved. Furthermore, formalizing paralegalism in such places is

a low-cost way for justice ministries to provide access to justice for economically

marginalized groups. Globally, the use of pre-trial detention, and its impact on

economic prospects for individuals and communities.

Formalizing paralegalism

is a low-cost way for justice ministries to provide access to justice for economically marginalized

groups.

Source : OECD (2016)

12EX A M P L E S O F PE O P L E -F O C U S E D I N N O V A T I O N S I N AC C E S S T O J U S T I C E In the broader context, many countries are modernizing approaches to providing

legal assistance and justice services to respond to a range of day-to-day legal needs:

• Legal empowerment interventions. Legal empowerment is designed to give

people the power to know and use the law, and is one of the most effective and

responsive methods for achieving access to justice. Legally empowered, even poor

and marginalized people are able to make the law work in their own interests,

achieving meaningful solutions to concrete injustices. It emphasizes a people-

centric approach to justice by highlighting the priorities of individuals and

communities in using the law to

advance and protect their interests.

Often this involves a combination

of lawyers and paralegals, formal

and informal justice systems,

information sharing and

community-driven participation.

Legal empowerment is

designed to give people the power to know and use the law, and is one of the most effective and responsive methods for

achieving access to justice.

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T YP E S O F L E G A L E M P O W E R M E N T IN TE R V E NT IO NS The Asian Development Bank identifies three orders of legal empowerment

interventions:

• First-order interventions include basic legal awareness-raising, or “legal literacy” work to educate the public about legal rights and obligations, institutional structures of the legal system, and specific mechanisms that marginalized groups can use to advance their interests. This can include print, broadcast and internet media, informational flyers, pamphlets and posters, radio and TV outreach, dramatic performances and digital tools.

• Second-order interventions focus on resolving legal problems and administrative challenges that are faced by marginalized groups. Interventions are community-driven and provide both formal and informal legal services, including mediation. Paralegals are a key mechanism for implementation at this level, as they are able to address informal/formal divides, understand local context, are cost-effective and responsive to local community needs.

• Third-order interventions are designed to affect policy constraints and

systemic factors that shape the circumstances in which legal problems arise. They target persisting inequitable power relations that continually marginalize the poor. Activities include public interest litigation, policy and law reform advocacy, legislation drafting, administrative advocacy, justice system reform and corruption monitoring.

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I MP A C T O F S E L E CT E D L E GA L E M P O W E R ME NT I NI T I A T I V E S A legal empowerment approach to access to justice has resulted in well-targeted

and effective outcomes in a range of geographies:

• In Indonesia, a local NGO used female paralegals to expand understanding

about rights and entitlements in female-headed households. Alongside

international partners, the NGO supported government reforms of state and

religious justice institutions by raising awareness and assisting with women's

cases, contributing to a fourfold increase in the number of women able to access

circuit courts the following year.

• In Ecuador, the World Bank evaluated five legal service centers focused on

enforcing child support payments for poor women and reducing domestic

violence. The study found that the centers’ clients seeking child support were

20% more likely to succeed than those without access to legal aid. They were

also 17% less likely to experience physical violence after separation from their

partners.

• In India, filing claims under the Right to Information Act (RTIA) has helped New

Delhi’s slum dwellers to obtain ration cards for subsidized foodstuffs. A Yale

University study found that 94% of ration card applicants who filed RTIA inquiries

into the status of their application received their cards within a year. Only 21%

of those who did not file a claim received their cards.

• In Sierra Leone, extended or unlawful pretrial detention damages the prosperity

and health of prisoners and their families. An Oxford University study showed

that a program placing paralegals in prisons to provide free legal services has

reduced the numbers of prisoners held on remand by 20% and increased the

percentage gaining access to bail by 13%. Moreover, only two paralegals placed

at each police station managed to provide basic legal advice to 70% of

detainees.

15• Facilitating a continuum of legal assistance and justice services. Many countries

are shifting strategies toward access to legal services and justice as a continuum of

services: access to understandable legal information, to legal representation, to

appropriate non-legal support, and support to participate in alternative, cost-

effective mechanisms as well as to formal hearings in courts and tribunals. To

facilitate navigation across multiple justice pathways and overcome the

fragmentation of legal services, some countries are developing frontline of

community paralegals and community justice centers or one-stop shops (e.g.,

Family justice centres, le service d’accueil unique des justiciables in France; scaling

community based paralegals to be deployed in all chiefdoms in Sierra Leone) in

order to overcome the fragmentation of legal services. The recent Strategic

Technology Summits organised by the US Legal Services Corporation highlighted

case triage as one of the top six priorities for enhancing access to justice in the

United States. While still limited, many countries are expanding the scope of

coverage of legal aid to civil and administrative cases (Estonia, France, Ukraine,

Georgia, Indonesia), as well as for cases considered outside of courts by alternative

mechanisms to resolve disputes (Armenia, Germany, France, Lithuania, Switzerland

and Sierra Leone).

Source : Adapted from Finix Technologies (n.d.) and Open Law Library (2015)

16• Providing targeted, timely and appropriate legal assistance services. Targeted

services aim to ensure limited public funds are first used to assist those facing the

most severe problems and least able to otherwise access help, thus maximising

social return on investment. Targeted services also require recognition that justice

and legal needs are tied to an individual’s life circumstances (e.g., problem solving

courts dealing with drug, alcohol abuse and domestic abuse). The US

Government’s Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable, established in 2015, is a good

example of targeting national government support for justice where it is most

needed.

• Another tailored option to civil justice needs of people, used by the private and

public sector, is to “unbundle” legal services (breaking legal services down into

defined and affordable parts allowing the client to pick and choose which parts to

purchase) and provide partial legal representation or assistance, with the client

doing much of the work themselves (e.g., “self-help units” of US legal aid providers

and an online Unbundling Resource Center of the American Bar Association).

• Legal problems left unaddressed

can bring about and exacerbate

other legal and non-legal

problems, and entrench social

disadvantage. To prevent problems

occurring or escalating, early

intervention is needed, and often entails building a robust early resolution services

system and promoting basic legal skills training. The mode of service delivery,

location and level of assistance of legal services should reflect client capability and

support efficiencies by migrating users to the least expensive services that

adequately meet their needs. For example the Intereach Neighbourhood Centre

in Deniliquin, New South Wales, Australia brings together different public agencies

and private offices with the intention to reach out collectively to people in need in

a determined geographic area, which also helps to overcome geographical barriers

(broadband network initiative Australia).

Legal problems left unadressed

can bring about and exacerbate other legal and non-legal problems, and entrench

social disadvantage.

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• New developments in technology may revolutionize legal services over the next

few decades. Many governments are increasingly putting their judicial services

online, such as Rechtwijzer 2.0 in the Netherlands, where entire cases are initiated

and decided online. The UK and

Australia are also embracing

online technology. Private online

dispute resolution systems such

as that used by eBay (which

settles 60 million disputes each year) can facilitate solutions to small problems

efficiently. Technology has also introduced automated pathways, providing simple

information to clients who answer a series of standard questions, to reduce costs

and winnow out simple cases. Despite the widespread use of 3G phones in low

and middle income countries, there is considerable under-development of mobile

applications in this area, while high income countries are moving swiftly ahead.

New developments in technology

may revolutionize legal services over the next

few decades.

Source : Adapted from Currie A. (2009)

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• New financing models, such as low-cost legal insurance (e.g. US legal services, or

Legalwise South Africa) taken out by people renting a property, or to help with

family problems. In South Africa, for example, one package offered is 84R per

month ($6USD), for use of a lawyer up to 84,000R ($6,000) per case. Cooperatives,

owned by members, offer another option for low cost fixed fee services (e.g. in the

UK) or social enterprise models to self-fund basic legal services and use of

endowments.

Source : Adapted from Australian Government (2012)

Source : OECD (2016)

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K E Y Q U E S T I O N S F O R C O N S I D E R A T I O N

• How can access to justice and legal empowerment be fully integrated into national

development and inclusive growth strategies?

• How can governments shift from the more traditional focus on internal processes

of justice institutions towards helping people access justice, in order to support

effective implementation of the SDG 16.3 to “ensure equal access to justice for all”?

• What are good practices in providing people-focused, targeted and timely legal

and justice services, including legal empowerment?

• How can we take better advantage of new technology and other justice

innovations for the delivery of legal and justice services in low, middle and high

income countries?

• How can effective and credible basic justice services be delivered at scale in a

sustainable manner?

• What are innovative financing approaches in support of access to justice? How can

the private sector be better engaged, including in investing in low cost legal

services?

20B I B L I O G R A P H Y

Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters (2013), Access to Civil and Family Justice: A Roadmap for Change, Ottawa, Canada, October 2013.

American Bar Association (ABA) (1994) Comprehensive Legal Needs Study, Legal Needs and Civil Justice: A Survey of Americans, Major Findings from the Comprehensive Legal Needs Study, ABA Consortium on Legal Services and the Public

Asian Development Bank (2001), Legal Empowerment: Advancing Good Governance and Poverty Reduction, Appendix 1: The Impact of Legal Empowerment Activities on Agrarian Reform Implementation in the Philippines & Appendix 2: The Impact of Legal Empowerment on Selected Aspects of Knowledge, Poverty, and Governance in Bangladesh: A Study of Three NGOs

Australian Government (2012), Harnessing the Benefits of Technology to Improve Access to Justice, Analysis paper, Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia

Barendrecht M, Gramatikov M, Porter R, and Verdonschot J.H, (2012), Trend Report: Part 1 – Towards Basic Justice Care For Everyone, Den Haag: The Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law, The Hague: HiiL

Chhatre A, and Agrawal A, (2009), Trade-offs and synergies between carbon storage and livelihood benefits from forest commons, PNAS, 106(42), 17667- 17670

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from: http://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/General-Studies/notes/inclusive-growth-and-issues-arising-from-it.html

[11 Sep 2016]

Community Advocacy & Legal Centre (2016), Challenges and Opportunities In Rural and Remote Access to Justice – Ontario, Canada, Michele M. Leering

Currie A, (2009), The Legal Problems of Everyday Life, in Sandefur R.L. (ed.), Access to Justice: Sociology of Crime Law and Deviance, Vol 12, Emerald, p. 37

Finix Technologies (n.d.), One Stop Shop. Available from: http://www.finixtechnologies.com/one-stop-shop/ [12 Sep

2016]

Judicial Encuesta Nacional de Necesidades Jurídica (2013), Análisis general y comparativo para tres poblaciones, Dejusticia

Knight R, Adoko J, Siakor A, Salomao A, Auma T, Kaba A and Tankar I, (2012), Protecting Community Lands and Resources: Evidence from Liberia, Mozambique, and Uganda, Namati and International Development Law Organization (IDLO), 118

Le Blanc D, (2015) Towards Integration at Last? The Sustainable Development Goals as a Network of Targets, DESA Working Paper No. 141 ST/ESA/2015/DWP/141

OECD (2015) Expert Roundtables on Equal Access to Justice, Background Notes, unpublished

Open Law Library (2015), The Legal System needs to be redesigned by normal people for normal people, 18 November

2016. Available from: http://www.openlawlab.com/2015/11/18/the-legal-system-needs-to-be-redesigned-by-normal-

people-for-normal-people/ [11 Sept 2016]

Tyler T, Lawton E, Conroy K, Sandel M. and Zuckerman B, (Tyler et al.) (2011), Poverty, Health and law, Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press

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Photo Credits:

Open Society Foundations, Elisabetta Foco.